History Literature / TheGreatGodsWar

** The standard among the Nuuri, whose women are massive bruisers with BoobsOfSteel, each of whom commands a minor army of tiny husbands.

* ResurrectiveImmortality: Bifalt has it in the first book, courtesy of [[spoiler: the sorcerers of the Last Repository needing him alive for now.]] Every time he should die, he just wakes up more or less unharmed.

* CompellingVoice: [[spoiler: The priests of the Great God Rile]] turn out to have this ability and use it to ruthless effect.

* XanatosGambit: After being somewhat of an IdiotHero throughout the book, Bifalt actually comes up with one of these in the end of ''The Seventh Decimate''. [[spoiler: If he wins the duel, Marrow has promised to give him ''The Seventh Decimate'', which he will then bring back to Belleger. If he loses, Third Father will be honour-bound to obey his last wish, which is that he brings ''A Treatise on the Fabrication of Cannon Using Primitive Means'' back to Belleger. As possessing either of those books will give Belleger an unstoppable tactical advantage, he can't lose as long as Marrow and Third Father both honour their word.]]

''The Great God's War'' is a LowFantasy series by Creator/StephenRDonaldson, planned to consist of three books. The first, ''Seventh Decimate'', was published in 2017, while the second, ''The War Within'', followed in 2019 and the third and final volume, ''The Killing God'' in 2022.

''The Great God's War'' is a LowFantasy series by Creator/StephenRDonaldson, planned to consist of three books. The first, ''Seventh Decimate'', was published in 2017, while the second, ''The War Within'', followed in 2019.

''The Great God's War'' is a LowFantasy series by Creator/StephenRDonaldson, planned to consist of three books. The first, ''The Seventh Decimate'', was published in 2017, while the second, ''The War Within'', followed in 2019.

* FailureHero: Bifalt spends the first bookmaking the exact wrong choice at pretty much every single turn, something that he is bitterly aware of.

* FailureHero: Bifalt spends the first book making the exact wrong choice at pretty much every single turn, something that he is bitterly aware of.

* GoodShepherd: Third Father is consistently calm and kind and tries to understand people and see to their emotional needs. He also [[spoiler: agrees to deliver a book on guncrafting to Belleger if Bifalt should die, even though he clearly thinks it's a terrible idea and even though it puts him at considerable risk, because it's part of his duties to deliver final messages from people about to die to their loved ones, and [[LoopholeAbuse this technically counts as one.]]]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Prince Bifalt seems to spend most of the second half of the first book getting this treatment from every other characters. Whether any of them are any better than him is hard to say, though.

The Bellegerin are hoping to finally turn the tide through their recent invention of rifles, but before they can capitalise on their advantage, [[TheMagicGoesAway all sorcery in Belleger suddenly ceases to work]] - and new rifles can only be forged with the aid of the Decimate of Fire. Expecting a devastating attack at any time, the King of Belleger sends his son, Prince Bifalt, on a desperate mission for a [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything legendary library]] said to contain the knowledge of the Seventh Decimate, a lost art that can [[AntiMagic nullify other sorcery.]]

* SinisterMinister: Archpriest Makh, leader of the Church of the Great God Rile, preaches a [[ScienceIsBad suspect philosophy]] and has political aspirations towards some unknown goal. He also seems to wield (or at least channel) some sort of OutsideContextMagic that no one has ever heard of. His subordinate priests also have shades of this trope, though they seem to be JustFollowingOrders and may or may not be in on whatever it is Makh is planning.

* AntiHero: Bifalt is angry, self-righteous and hates sorcery and Amikans to a downright psychotic extent. What still makes him somewhat sympathetic is how devoted he is to saving his people.

* CrapsackWorld: Belleger seems to consist almost solely of shell-shocked veterans and starving peasants. There are hints that Amika is no better off. Subverted as it turns out that the wider world is actually doing pretty well - it's just those two kingdoms that are suffering.

* TheGoodKing: King Abbator seems to be highly respected by his people, and Prince Bifalt practically worships his father.

* GrayAndGreyMorality: Bifalt just wants to save his kingdom from Amika, but is willing to do things he considers dishonourable to succeed. The Amikans, meanwhile, are hinted to think of themselves as fighting a GuiltFreeExterminationWar against a race of remorseless butchers. [[spoiler: Marrow and the other Last Repository sorcerers]] want to end the war, but only so that Belleger and Amika can get ready to fight for ''them'' when the time comes - and they, too, consider their goal to be so inherently just that it makes any methods permissible.

* MercyKill: [[spoiler: The Amikans consider their practice of killing their own wounded with long-range sorcery to be this, assuming that the Bellegerins would submit them to ColdBloodedTorture if they were ever captured.]]

* SmugSnake: [[spoiler: King Smegin]] in the second book thinks that he's an unstoppable force of nature and a credible threat to the Last Repository, and he kills, tortures and enslaves people on the general principle of [[TheUnfettered "well, who's gonna stop me?"]] [[spoiler: He gets DrivenToSuicide after a single Last Repository sorcerer takes away his magic practically with a snap of her fingers. You'd think he'd remember they could do that, especially since that was why he hated them so much so much to start with, but, apparently...]]